A Father's Family
by The Black Chocobo Knight
Summary: Master Eraqus contemplates his 'children' as a routine training exercise takes him down memory lane to a time when young Aqua takes a spill during a training exercise. NOT A ROMANCE! Father/Daughter moment.


I don't own the rights to Kingdom Hearts.

Great games though. Enjoy

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A Father's Family

Eraqus watched his two oldest apprentices sparred against each other as his youngest one sat by his side and watched. He could tell Ven was itching to get into the fight too, but as a part of training, Eraqus made him sit and observe the two keyblade wielders; telling him what differences he could find between the fighters.

The old master lifted his head to enjoy the nice summer breeze. It really was a nice day, perfect for a spar.

"Well Ven?" He asked, looking at his brooding pupil, "What can you tell me about Terra and Aqua?"

The blond looked up sullenly at his master, "Terra never washes his socks…and Aqua has a stash of candy in her room that she won't share with me."

"I meant about their fighting styles…"

"Well obviously, Terra excels at physical attacks and Aqua's strength lies with magic." He said just as Terra caught the girl in the stomach with his keyblade and slammed her down from her high jump straight into the earth.

"Easy Terra!" Eraqus called, as chunks of earth flew from impact, a frown forming on his face. "It's just a pract—" he was cut short by Terra's pained scream as Aqua counter attacked with a mega flare.

"—never mind," he sighed, a smile appearing on his lips. He couldn't help but remember, as Ven babbled on about the intensity of the fire attack, a time and place not too long ago (he was certainly younger) , where he was standing in the same place watching the same two try to kill each other in a spar and Ven wasn't with them yet...

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Eraqus watched as his two young apprentices fought each other, calling out mistakes and advice when he saw fit. His two students, the fifteen year old Terra and thirteen year old Aqua fought each other with the ferocity of life and death. They were fighting with simple, yet real keyblades now, and he could tell Aqua was starting to struggle with the weapon. Terra, who was always naturally strong, wielded the plain blade with more ease.

Their blades crossed, and there was a moment where each teen fought for the dominating chance to strike. Terra's young strength pulled though and Aqua had to pull away first, quickly jumping away from Terra's strike.

"Come on Aqua!" Eraqus called out just as she landed from her leap, "You can do better than this!" The young blue haired girl clenched her teeth and charged at the boy with a furies set of strikes and slashes. Terra blocked and dodged her vicious blows and leapt back far enough to put some distance between them. Taking advantage of this Aqua raised her hand and called out a weak magic attack.

"Fire!" she yelled, and a small fireball flew from her palm and shot towards the boy. Terra barely had time to dodge the attack, by throwing himself flat on the ground, but the small ball of fire caught the edge of his shirt, flames licked his skin and singed his shirt.

"Hey!" he called, pain igniting a hurt anger within. Narrowing his eyes, he flew at her with a series of heavy blows, it was all she could do to dodge the intense attacks. But she was too slow and tired to escape all the blows. A swing of his key blade caught her right in the side, the swing cutting into her side and arm.

Aqua cried out in pain as she flew from the force of the attack. Hitting the ground hard, she curled up into a ball as tears stung her eyes and her blood stained the grass, her keyblade clattering away.

"Aqua!" Terra cried, eyes wide "Are you okay?" He threw his keyblade on the ground and ran to his friend.

"Terra, you big brute!" She cried, struggling to get up, holding her injured side. At once Eraqus was at her side, his arms around her helping her to stand.

"Aqua?" he asked, trying to see her wounds, "Let me see."

"Aqua, I'm so sorry," Terra pleaded, "I-I didn't mean to…"

"Leave me alone!" She ripped herself from her master's hold and ran off towards the castle that they called home.

Eraqus reached a hand out, a futile attempt to stop her, before turning his glare on his older pupil.

Terra flinched under his gaze, "I'm sorry Master, I didn't realize…"

"You need to control your strength Terra!" Eraqus snapped. The boy's eyes filled with small tears as he whispered, "I'm sorry…" Eraqus sighed but his tone did not waver.

"We will talk later," he said before turning away and running after his other student.

Eraqus searched the castle high and low for his pupil, her room…Terra's room, his rooms, the bathrooms, his worry growing as she was nowhere to be found. It was by pure luck, that when he heard her sniffling as he walked past a closet door.

He stopped and opened the door slowly and saw his student crouched in the closet, shoulders shaking with small cries. His gaze softened and he entered the decent sized closet. Her soiled shirt was off, leaving her only in her chest binding. The girl was trying to bandage her wounds, yet was struggled with her hurt arm. 'She must have raided the healing supplies,' he thought as he saw the various bandages and the bowl of water beside her.

"Aqua," he said quietly, "May I come in?"

She startled a bit at the sound of his voice but turned towards her master nonetheless. "You're already in," she sniffed, keeping her head down. He smiled and chuckled softly.

"That I am," he went over and sat beside her. She blushed, her flushed face turning redder, and attempting to cover herself and her wounds.

"Are you alright?" She gave him a look, raising her puffy red eyes to meet his.

"No," she whispered lowering her eyes again and sniffing.

"Let me see," He ordered gently and gently removed her hands. Terra's keyblade left a small and shallow cut on her stomach. He gingerly took her arm and examined it as well. It too was dawned with a small cut.

"It's not that bad," he reassured," It bled well, but you wounds are small and shouldn't scar." Aqua sniffed in response. Eraqus took a look at the healing supplies and asked,

"Do you want some help?"

She nodded and said weakly, "I can't bandage them myself…" He laughed gently.

"It's not surprising with a hurt arm." He replied. Eraqus took the water and soaked the rag she brought in it.

"This may sting a little bit," he warned as he lifted some of her bindings to have a clear reach. Aqua nodded and bowed her head lower, her blue bangs shielding her eyes. Eraqus wiped the wound on her stomach, holding a hand on her back to keep her still as she flinched. He then bandaged the wound with expert skill.

"Time for your arm," she obeyed and raised her arm. He repeated his healing process, leaving his student neatly bandaged. He helped her put on the clean shirt she also brought, making sure not to bump her injured arm and side.

"There," he said, "You're all better.

"Thank you," she whispered. The girl still kept her head down, which was odd for the normally strong teen.

"What's wrong Aqua?" He asked as she started sniffing again.

"I'm sorry Master," she whimpered, raising her tear filled eyes to his.

"Why, Aqua? What do you have to be sorry about?"

"I'm sorry," she paused to rub her eyes, "I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough…that I'm sorry I'm not as strong as T-terra…"

"Oh Aqua," he whispered gently, Eraqus reached over and pulled the girl into his embrace, setting her in his lap. He held her tightly as she sniffled and cried against his chest. It was a rare show of extreme affection from her master, she remembered him holding her like this only when she first came to the Land of Departure, when she was plagued with terrible dreams. But that was when she was younger, Aqua was older now, and normally would fight against such childish needs…but at the moment she was grateful for his embrace and hid her face in her Master's chest.

"Oh Aqua," he said again, rocking her gently, "There's no way I'd ever expect you to be as strong as Terra. Even when you reach your prime, I doubt you'll be able to match his strength. I myself will not compare to the boy when he reaches his full potential. He's like the earth, Aqua; strong and unyielding like the mountains."

The blue haired girl nodded in his chest, her heart sinking lower and lower, her cries turning into small upset sobs.

"Shhh, shh," he cooed. "I did not mean to imply that you aren't valuable as well. It is true that Terra has been training longer, and his strength is great. But your talents are extremely valuable."

Eraqus adjusted his charge and slid her off his lap, so that they were facing each other. He gently lifted the child's chin so she was forced to look into his eyes.

"You're strength, young Aqua, lies in one of the hardest aspects to master." Her bloodshot eyes questioned him and her head tilted.

"Magic," he whispered, "Anybody can pick up a sword or keyblade and swing it around, but magic takes true talent and skill to master fully. You can already master the simplest magic spells, and soon I was going to teach you some more advanced skills."

"Really?" she sniffed.

"Yes," he laughed, laying a hand on her head, "Now will Terra have to master magic eventually? To receive his Mark he will. But I can tell it will take awhile to get it through his thick skull…"

Aqua giggled, a refreshing sound compared to her sniffles. A soft smile graced the older man's lips.

"He's sorry for what he did you know," Eraqus said softly, "I can tell he honestly didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know," Aqua said quietly.

"The fireball didn't help."

Aqua looked up, a fierce look in her puffy eyes, "I know it didn't, but it was the only way I could get a blow in!"

He patted her head, "I know, but it…ignited things to say the least. Just to warn you now, he'll be all over you with apologies tomorrow."

"He doesn't have too, it was mostly my fault."

"Just a warning."

Suddenly Aqua leapt up and wrapped her arms around her masters' neck. To be honest, Eraqus was happily shocked by such an open display from his student. Aqua was at the stage where she wanted to become more independent from him, which he encouraged. Master and apprentice couldn't be too affectionate, or they wouldn't learn correctly. Normally Eraqus saved his intimate affection for his students when he felt they needed it, like this particular evening. Nevertheless he smiled and wrapped his arms around her too.

"Thank you Master," she whispered into his neck, tightening her hold.

"No thanks are necessary Aqua," he said gently.

Eraqus allowed them in this embrace before sweeping up the small girl in his arms.

"M-m-master?" Aqua sputtered, shocked, "P-put me down!"

He gave a rich laugh, "It's been a long night Aqua, allow me to help." Aqua had to admit she was exhausted physically and all the crying left her drained. Not to mention her wounds were achy.

"Okay…" she said slowly, blushing. She settled uncomfortable in his arms, but then relaxed as he carried her all the way to her room. And he knows she won't admit it, but she soon dozed off in his hold, leaving him to fix her for bed and tuck her in.

The next day Eraqus wandered the castle for lack of nothing to do. He gave his students the day off, mainly to give Aqua some time to heal, but to also let the tension from the last day to fade. He was walking when he saw Aqua confront Terra for the first time since the practice spar.

Of course he had to watch. Earlier in the day, he had talked to Terra about it, who was sincerely upset about the incident.

His heart warmed, as Aqua tackled the brunette to the ground in bone crushing hug. Terra, a huge smile on his face, hugged her back, and Eraqus knew all was going to be well.

The Master smiled as he continued his walk, and he couldn't help but think that, of all the students he trained to the Mark, these two children held a place in his old heart. He could honestly consider the two students, his children…his family…

'And now I have one more,' Eraqus thought as he looked down at Ven, bright blue eyes watching his two older friends fight. A warm smiled fell on his lips.

"Alright!" he called, slapping a hand on Ven's shoulder, making the boy jump. Aqua and Terra froze, keyblades raised, looking at their master.

"That's enough for the day," he decided, "Let's go to dinner." Terra and Aqua relaxed at once and Terra immediately sat on the ground. They both were sporting bruises and small cuts. They were covered in dirt and Terra was sporting small burns.

"Finally!" Terra cried, "I thought we'd never stop."

"How'd we do Ven?" Aqua asked, panting with exhaustion. Ven launched into an enthusiastic retail of their spar. He was going on and on until Eraqus interrupted them.

"You know we can't eat until you two get cleaned up." His trio looked at him before sprinting off towards the castle.

"Yes!" Cried Ven, "I'm going to get my food before Terra eats it all!"

"Hey!"

Eraqus smiled as he heard his children's laughter reach him as he walked amiably behind them.

Two sons and a daughter. What else could a father need?

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Hey! I hope you all enjoyed this tender moment between master and apprentice. I apologize if Aqua seems a bit out of character, she is younger in this story than in the game though. So her personality is still developing; which is my reasoning, and I haven't played her story in the game yet. I'd like to give a shoutout to my magnificent editor, Chedder, who edits my over comma'd stories and helps out in about every other story writing aspect. Everyone thank Chedder. Thanks Chedder!

Haha I hope you enjoyed this short story, and to those of you who are waiting on the update for my Final Fantasy VII story, _To Save Her Smile,_ don't shoot! It's coming! Soon...eventually...I promise it will be up!

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you leave a review it'd be lovely. Till next time!


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